Workbench and Wooden Vice

A little a while ago I started and have now almost completed my first workbench.

The pairs of legs are made up of laminated 2×3’s, stretchers are slightly larger 2x stock. The surface is from some free 1”x 6” tongue and groove pine (I think) boards that I believe were used to ship the boiler/furnace for my apartment building. Some have “made in England” stenciled markings as well as gross weight (1200 kg), and had been sitting in my basement for 80 years or so. Unfortunately I had to remove the markings because the boards were all so badly cupped. They are glued together, and attached to 1/2” plywood, which was also free. Not quite as heavy as I’d like, but it does the job.

The vice was and is a bit of an ongoing experiment. The moving jaw was built up using 1x stock, for a total thickness of 2-1/4” and width of 10” or so. I don’t have access to turned products, so I had to improvise somewhat in making the hub that connects the handle to the 1’1/4” threaded dowel. The vice opens to a totally unnecessary 16”+ inches, however that will be reduced as I find a better handle solution. It slides on 1” dia. poplar dowels, and has a total depth of about 5” from bench height to rails. My general opinion is that the vice is too large for what I use it for.

A bit too light, a bit too much slop, and lower quality than I will eventually be looking for, but for now it works fine.

Thanks for looking

EDIT:

The only moving parts that are glued together are the rails to the moving jaw. Everything else is screwed, so it’ll be easy to replace individual components.

-- - Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true. -

Can’t tell how the bench side of the vise lines up with the bench surface itself, but one thing you may want to consider is recessing the screws on the bench side of the vise, or putting a piece of leather/suede on it. Otherwise, you’re apt to end up with several little plus signs on your work (Speaking from experience here…)

@Tokolosi: I used a tap and thread box, from woodcraft I believe for about $50. I really wanted a metal vice, but the threading kit was cheaper, had more making and figuring involved, and I can use it to make clamps or a moxon vice with as well eventually. It works pretty well, however I didn’t follow common advice which is to thread the dowel after soaking it in water for a bit, and the results show. Even with the dowel threaded into construction grade softwood, clamping power is sufficient so far.

-- - Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true. -